Supporting OSCE participating States to develop and implement systems to collect biometric data in order to responsibly and properly identify terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters, in compliance with domestic law and international human rights

The objective of this project, implemented by the Transnational Threats Department’s Border Security and Management Unit (TNTD/BSMU), is to support the capability of the OSCE participating States (pS) and Partners for Co-operation (PfC) in collecting and sharing biometric data in an ethical and responsible way to reduce the movement of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) in the OSCE area.

Background

While by early 2018, the number of FTFs travelling to Iraq and Syria had decreased, the impact on transnational security of FTFs returning to their home states or moving on to third states has increased drastically. The involvement of several former FTFs in the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Paris, Istanbul and London between 2015 and 2017 confirms the increasing fears that these individuals will utilize their experience and training to set up new terrorist cells and plan and carry out new attacks.

Biometrics are biological measurements or physical characteristics that can be used to identify individuals and confirm that they are indeed who they say they are. There are two types of biometrics: physiological (face, fingerprints, hand geometry, ear shape, iris, DNA) and behavioural (voice, gait, signature and typing habits). These biometrics are universal, unique, permanent and measurable.

This uniqueness is the reason why biometrics are increasingly used for border management and counter-terrorism purposes, as they can help law enforcement authorities determine someone’s identity with a high level of certainty. Biometric data when used with other intelligence data can be used pro-actively to prevent acts of terrorism. Biometric reference or crime scene data can be used in proving or disproving a person’s involvement in an offence and linking a person to an activity, event, location before, during or after an incident. Effective biometric systems also integrate checks against watch lists and databases in order to compare the traveller’s biometric information against known criminals or terrorists.

Biometric identification systems are essentially pattern recognition systems. They use acquisition scanning devices and cameras to capture images or measurements of an individual’s characteristics, and computer hardware and software to extract, encode, store, and compare these characteristics. Usually, this process is fully automated, which makes decision-making very fast, in most cases, taking only a few seconds.

Expected Results

This project aims to promote the benefits and good practices of using biometric systems at borders for counter-terrorism purposes amongst the OSCE pS and PfC. In addition, human rights implications arising within this context, particularly in relation to data privacy and data protection, are highlighted. Consequently, key stakeholders and decision-makers in pS and PfC will ultimately have a thorough understanding of the legal and technical requirements for setting up the biometric systems at borders.

The project will be implemented in three main phases: 1) Awareness-raising sub-regional workshops in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia; 2) National consultations (including needs assessments); 3) Technical support.